[ From Carol Spooner - iPNB bylaws revision committee chair ]
------------------------------
Please feel free to forward to all interested
Board --
I suggest the board adopt an affirmative action policy such as the one
below to implement our commitment to diversity as set out in the bylaws
under the authority of the Committees of Inclusion (Article 8, Section 2).
It would thus, be possible to adopt bylaws this weekend without delay and
without making the foundation a "wide target" for hostile agencies and
lawsuits.
This or a similar policy can be adopted without requiring ANY changes to
the proposed bylaws draft.
This suggested policy could be worked upon by national & local board
members in the 5 signal areas over the next few weeks, without delaying our
nominations and elections process.
--Carol Spooner
POLICY # ___.
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PLAN FOR DIVERSE REPRESENTATION
1. Intent: To balance Pacifica's commitment to diversity and equal access
and non-discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, age, sex,
color, or physical or mental disability, including diversity of membership
and the rights and privileges of membership,
representation on boards and committees as well as equal opportunity in
employment, with the public policy that prohibits practices
such as quotas or required percentages.
2. Scope: This policy applies to the Members, volunteers, and employees as
well as the Delegates, Directors, boards, and committees of the Foundation.
3. Application: The Board Committees of Inclusion are authorized to
implement this policy and to report
to the Board of Directors any significant violations of the policy.
4. Data Gathering, Reporting, and Annual Review: The Personnel Committee
shall prepare an annual report to the Board of Directors that describes the
attainment, or lack thereof, of the goals of this policy. The report shall
include data of the following kind.
A. For each group or assembly of members to be analyzed a list, table, or
grid showing of the following:
1.) African-Ancestry men/women
2.) Latino-Ancestry men/women
3.) Asian/Pacific Islander-Ancestry men/women
4.) Native American -Ancestry men/women
5.) European-Ancestry men/women
6.) North African, Arab, Palestinian, Turkish, Persian, etc. -Ancestry
men/women
7.) Other people of various ancestry men/women
8.) Men/women with disability
9.) Lesbian/Gay men (by self identification only)
10.) Involuntarily confined in prisons or hospitals men/women
11.) Age by four categories: age 20 or less, 21 to 40, 41 to 60, and 61 and
above, men/women
12.) Total men
13.) Total women
14.) Grand total.
In addition, each station area shall be divided by its Local Station Board,
for reporting purposes, into distinct, relatively large, geographic sectors,
not numbering more than six (6), and unless the Committee of Inclusion
finds it
inappropriate for the analysis, the list shall report:
15.) the geographic sector men/women
To protect the privacy of the people involved, data shall be collected by
self identification, visual observations, or membership application only.
B. The groups or assemblies of Members to be analyzed shall include:
1.) The Pacifica Board of Directors.
2.) Local Station Boards of Delegates
3.) Membership by each station and as a whole
4.) Employees by each station and as a whole
5.) Regular on-air broadcasters by each station and as a whole
6.) Other committees or groups as the Board of Directors or the
Committee of Inclusion directs from time to time.
C. Reporting Cycles.
Items 1.) and 2.) of subsection B. shall be reported annually within two
months of the elections of the bodies.
Items 4.) and 5.) of subsection B. shall be reported annually at the annual
meeting of the Board of Directors.
Item 3.) of subsection B shall be reported triennially at the annual
meeting in years evenly divided by three. Each Local Station Board shall be
responsible for providing demographic information for their station
broadcast area to the Personnel Committee in a timely manner for
preparation of the triennial membership report. The station broadcast area
is the geographic area in which the station's broadcast signal may be
regularly heard. The demographic data in the triennial membership reports
from each Local station Board shall be appended to this policy.
Reports made pursuant to item 6.) of subsection B shall be reported as
designated in the directive creating the report.
5. Goals and Target Values for Diversity of Participation and
Representation
A. The following goals and target values reflect neither the minimum nor
the maximum percentages that should come from the targeted group categories.
Rather they are approximations of the comparative composition that the
Foundation uses to promote diversity and assure fair participation and
representation of traditionally under-represented segments of society we
seek to serve in radio broadcasting operations.
1.) The percentages for the goals for Board of Directors composition are:
a) At least 50% people of non-European-Ancestry (Within this category,
the Board shall endeavor to assure meaningful representation of all the
categories of ancestry listed in section 4.A.) [See Note #1.]
b) At least 50% women.
c) At least 20% gay men and lesbians.
d) At least 10% persons with disabilities.
e.) At least one from each age category.
2.) The percentages for the goals for Local Station Boards of Delegates
composition are:
a) At least 50% people of non-European-Ancestry (or as part of the triennial
Membership report each Local Station Board shall determine the demographics
of the station broadcast area and shall endeavor to assure meaningful
representation of all the categories of ancestry listed in section 4.A.
according to their percentages of distribution in the station broadcast
area )
b) At least 50% women.
c) At least 20% gay men and lesbians.
d) At least 10% persons with disabilities.
e.) At least 40% not in the age category of 41 to 60, with at least one from
each age category.
f.) Reasonably representative percentages from each geographic sector.
3.) The percentages for the goals for Membership composition are:
a) As part of the triennial Membership report each Local Station Board shall
determine the demographics of the station broadcast area and shall endeavor
to assure meaningful participation in and representation of all the
categories of ancestry listed in section 4.A. according to their percentages
of distribution in the station broadcast area
b) At least 50% women.
c) At least 20% gay men and lesbians.
d) At least 10% persons with disabilities.
e.) At least 20 % in either the youngest or oldest age categories with
reasonably equal participation by and representative of each of the other
age categories.
f.) Reasonably representative percentages from each geographic sector.
4.) The percentages for the goals for employee composition are:
a) All the categories of ancestry listed in section 4.A. according to their
percentages of distribution in the station broadcast area
b) At least 50% women.
c) At least 20% gay men and lesbians.
d) At least 10% persons with disabilities.
e.) At least 20% in either the youngest or oldest age categories.
5.) The percentages for the goals for on-air broadcaster composition are:
the same as the Local Station Board composition for the radio station area.
a) At least 50% people of non-European-Ancestry (or as reasonably
representing all the categories of ancestry listed in section 4.A. according
to their percentages of distribution in the station broadcast area )
b) At least 50% women.
c) At least 20% gay men and lesbians.
d) At least 10% persons with disabilities.
e.) At least 40% not in the age category of 41 to 60, with at least one from
each age category.
6.) The percentages for the goals for composition of the bodies reported
pursuant to item 6.) of Section 4.B shall be as designated in the directive
creating the report.
B.. The Board of Directors shall review these target percentages every
three years in conjunction with the triennial membership report.
6. Election for Local Station Board Delegates
A. The Local Station Boards shall cooperate and work with the
Committee of Inclusion in order to comply with these diversity and
representation goals.
The Local Station Boards shall each appoint a candidate search committee in
order to ensure that the candidate pools for election of Delegates will
comply with these diversity target goals. If the candidate pools are
significantly (e.g., more than 20% short of the goals) not in balance with
these diversity target goals, the candidate search committees shall focus
their search and recruitment efforts to maximize interest in and candidate
applications from members of the under-represented target groups.
B. If the candidate pools do not reasonably fulfill the diversity target
goals, as determined by the Election Committee of the LSB, then the election
of Delegates in that station area shall be postponed for at least one period
of 14 days. If after the first 14-day period of postponement the diversity
target goals are still not met, then the Election Committee or the Local
Station Board may either postpone the election for another 14-day period, if
it is determined that such postponement will likely produce results, or
proceed with the election. A decision of the Local Station Board will
prevail over a decision of the station Election Committee.
C. Postponement pursuant to this section of an election of Delegates for
one station area shall not affect the elections at the other station areas
unless the Board of Directors otherwise specifically directs.
D. No Member's vote for a Delegate shall not be counted because of the
candidate's ethnic group identification, religion, age, sex, color, or a
physical or mental disability.
7. Other Provisions [Reserved]
-----------------------
Note #1:
Even though, as of the 2000 census, the US population is currently
distributed as set forth in the following table, the Foundation acknowledges
that the urban areas it serves has higher percentages population of
non-European ancestry and therefore adopts the figure of "not less than 50%"
as a reasonable percentage considering the historical and present tendencies
to treat persons of non-European ancestry as though they are members of
lower castes.
Total - % ofpop.
Total population 281,421,906 - 100.0%
White 211,460,626 - 75.1%
Black or African American 34,658,190 - 12.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native 2,475,956 - 0.9%
Asian 10,242,998 - 3.6%
Native Hawaiian & other Pacific Islander 398,835 - 0.1%
Some other race 15,359,073 - 5.5%
Two or more races 6,826,228 - 2.4%
Hispanic or Latino 35,305,818 - 12.5%
NOTE: Percentages add up to more than 100% because Hispanics may be of any
race and are therefore counted under more than one category.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000.
**END POLICY # ____ **
|